Young Children's Imaginative Play: Is It Valued in Montessori Classrooms?

The main purpose of this article is to describe the nature of imaginary play in Montessori classrooms. A transcript from a train ride shows how young children imagine and recreate ideas from their real world experiences and weave them into original new accounts. The author discusses how the play-like action of dramatizing The Caboose Who Got Loose is highly motivating for young children. An informal analysis provides the reader with important insights into the way children see and think about the world. The play episode observed in this study appears as a microcosm of the larger Montessori culture, reflecting the spirit of kindness and respect that permeates Montessori Schools.